Just a Picture

At Shannon and Patrick's House

We went over to Patrick and Shannon's house for breakfast this morning. They were all set up and ready for Silas! Shannon tells me that the wooden implement Si is holding is a Scottish porridge spurtle. You learn something new every day. Silas really likes it.

Oh, and check out the new duds that Grandma G. sent us, along with some birthday gifts for him. Thanks Grandma! Doesn't he look like the bee's knees!

Diaper Duty & Laundry Booty

We estimate that we've washed about 330 loads of diapers in the past year and used between 25 and 30 gallons of vinegar. Phew! That's a lot of laundry to keep our son in clean nappies!
And while we're on the subject of laundry, yesterday Silas tried to wash one of my skeins of yarn. He opened the door, placed the yarn inside, closed the door, then stood up and turned the dials on the washer. Thankfully, he really can't push the buttons hard enough to actually turn it on. I carefully explained to him that while some yarns are indeed machine washable, I would recommend washing this particular skein of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino by hand, just to be safe.

So, the question that comes to mind now is this: which will come first for Silas? (a) the ability to do actual loads of laundry so that he can wash his own diapers, or (b) the completion of potty training so that we no longer have to wash diapers :)

Chef Silas

What you see pictured here is a daily occurrence in our house. As long as he's not too rough with the cookbooks we really like, we don't discourage Silas from taking them down off the shelf, disbursing them across the floor, and paging through them to find the most scrumptious apple turnover recipe, or to glean other cooking hints. Since he can already turn the stove on, we figure, he should know how to bake us bread. He's gotta start earning his keep.

Seriously though, he loves books and cookbooks are no exception. Playing with them may actually buy us a coveted 5 or even, wait for it, 10 MINUTES to do some dishes, clean up a bit or even, gasp, make a cup of tea and enjoy it, without having to chase him and stop him from eating some unknown substance off the floor, or from crawling head first into a wall (yes it's happened). So , even though we SHOULD move the cookbooks up out of reach, we just haven't seemed to do it yet.

Other forms of baby-proofing around the house are now in full swing, however. I'll be talking more about that in the coming weeks. I leave you with this update today: We tried the dreaded avocado again for Si's dinner and this time, about face, he LOVED it. No gagging, no tears, no head shaking, no clenched jaw, and no pained looks. He just gobbled it down. Yessss!

March '08 Book of the Month

Announcing Planet Silas' first ever book of the month! Since Si and his parents love books we decided to share one with you (along with some honorable mentions) each month. Enjoy!

And this month's books is...
Close Your Eyes by Kate Banks ; pictures by Georg Hallensleben.

Silas LOVES this book. The vivid images capture his attention. He convulses with happiness when we show him the cover and will often laugh at the images of Little Tiger, who is resisting his mama's gentle attempts to get him to go to sleep. This is a beautiful story and Silas recommends that all of you parents out there read it to your young ones. You will be captivated too!


This month's honorable mentions:
Winnie the Pooh's Touch and Feel Adapted from A. A. Milne.
Silas is really into textured books now, and that makes this book very engaging for him.
And... 1, 2, 3 by UNICEF.
A counting board book that introduces readers to numbers as well as works of art. Silas is particularly interested in the picture for #5. He loves those clouds!

Due Date Anniversary

This is what my belly looked like exactly one year ago:Silas' due date was 1 year ago today: March 1st, 2007.
He would not enter the world till the 16th.
The next few weeks would be the longest of my life (Drew's too).

This is the start of Si's birthday month and I've got a lot planned, both on the blog and in non-cyber "real" life. Be sure to stay tuned as we'll be recounting Silas' birth story, reminiscing about the past year, as well as celebrating his first birthday!

We've also introduced a new feature--the book of the month. You can see the image from this month's choice on the left. I'll post more about it later today.

Leap Day Update

A splendid Leap Day to all of you!

Just wanted to let you know that we had a GREAT night last night. Everyone slept well for the first time in quite a while. Everyone, that is, except for the poor unfortunate country mouse that found its way inside our house only to play out Wild Kingdom-Living Room Edition with our very able cat Sobin. The mouse is currently camped out below the stairs, and Sobin has been taking him out and playing with him every now and then. Poor mouse. Just a few minutes ago, Sobin tried to give the mouse (still alive) to Silas. Supposedly, in times of plenty, cats will help each other out by hunting for the weakest member of the group. Judging by the number of dead things our cat has brought us over the years, we can determine that he thinks we're not quite up-to-par, hunting-wise. That's what he gets for taking up residence with vegetarians.

Anyways, we all seem to be on the mend, FINALLY!

Ear Infection, Thou Art Our Enemy!

A message from Silas:
Ear Infection, I challenge you to a dual on the front lawn at dawn. You don't stand a chance against me as I am armed with an array of western medicine plus the love of my mama and daddy and the occasional lukewarm affections of my cat. Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Okay, all laughing aside, we just got back from the doctor's office and it's official. Silas has his first ear infection (both ears). The Doc says it has just begun within the last 24 hours. This explains why he was tossing and turning, complaining and unable to sleep for over 2 hours last night, and why he spent the entire morning crying. After several phone calls from Drew In which I could here Si screaming in the background (for those of you new to Planet Silas, Drew is a stay-at-home dad and I am a work-way-too-far-away-from-home mom), Drew and Patrick took Silas to the doctor and I rushed to meet them there. Good thing too as we got our diagnosis and can treat him for it. He's been given something for the pain (he fell asleep as soon as it kicked in) and Drew is picking up antibiotics to give Silas a big advantage in that dual with our enemy, the Ear Infection. It's been a rough few days for him, but we're confident he shall prevail!

Sleep vs. Snot--who will be the victor?

Falling asleep is so hard when you're a little bear with a stuffy nose and cough. After many tears, breastfeeding followed by a mucus-driven cough leading to a forceful expulsion of milk all over mommy, baby and bedding, and much tossing and turning, I finally figured out how to get him into a position he seemed to like--with the help of his Llama. Ok. Long sigh...lights out and walk slowly from the bed...and......two minutes later, I went in to check on him and found that he had thrust himself forward. At least he was still sleeping:
I moved him back and, several hours later, he was snoozing away comfortably (it didn't last):
It was a rough night, with ups and downs and everything in between and an even rougher morning. I stayed home from work, as I am sick now too. Silas was up a bit past 5 as though everything was perfectly fine in his world, but he crashed big time around 9 am. Repeat the bedtime routine I outlined above, substitute "expulsion of milk" with "puking of stewed carrots" and again substitute "bedding" for "daddy" and you have our morning. He crashed for about an hour, was up again before 11 and has remained awake till about 5 minutes ago (5:15). This time, his daddy walked him around in the ergo baby carrier until he drifted off. It's an improvement over last night. We'll see how things proceed from here.

Polaroids by Dad

Dad shot these Polaroids in Gerry and Erika's orchard earlier this week before Silas got sick. We've had some very spring-like days. In fact, today it was warm enough to bring Silas outside for a bit, despite the fact that he is still unwell. Although we didn't stay out for long, Silas seemed very grateful to spend some time outside after being cooped up inside for days. We enjoyed the sun, the green grass, and the crocuses, which are in bloom in abundance. The time spent outside, plus a long-overdue bath were the highlights of an otherwise somewhat miserable day for Silas, who felt yucky, had only 1 half-hour long nap, and fell twice, once scraping his neck, and once bumping his forehead. Another development I must mention: after his bath, I brushed his hair. He grabbed the brush from me and I expected him to shove it in his mouth (standard behavior). Instead, he brought it up to his head and started brushing his hair himself! Those synapses are really connecting!

Smile, the flu loves you!

It's been a rough week. Dad is on day 7 and Silas is on day 3 of a respiratory flu bug, or what we unaffectionately call, the plague. I am currently plague-free, but missed some work (and sleep) in order to take care of my boys. Let's hope they get better soon, and I avoid it all together!

But our week is nothing compared to the one our friends Jessi, Dave and Alden have had. They've had a trying time with Doctors and tests for Alden, who was born prematurely. He may or may not need surgery in the coming weeks, so please hope for the best for them (no surgery, healthy baby, no surgery, healthy baby, say it with me!). If you are able to do so, please consider sponsoring Alden's Team in the March of Dimes March for Babies. I'll put a link on the sidebar as well.

High Steppin'